Advice needed.

I know it’s well meant, but please don’t tell her she’s brave.

I would suggest to stop and say “hello how are you” just as you did previously. Give her the chance to mention or not that she’s been ill.

Stop and ask her 'how she's getting on'? be prepared to listen to her even if it's difficult!

Is it her face? A friend had Bell's palsy which led to his face drooping in one side.

Be friendly, ask her how she is (quite usual at the moment) and let her take the lead.

This is a tricky one my DH had a stroke nearly 3 years ago and his speech is very badly impaired. He did improve with some speech therapy, but I have to almost translate for him.
Some of our friends look at the example of Andrew Marr in making a terrific recovery - it is not always like this for everyone. So do tread carefully.

I agree with other posters don’t tell her unless she invites you to if you ask how she is getting on, chances are if she wants to she will then tell you her problems, if she replies ‘I m fine thanks’ you ll know she doesn’t want to talk about it
She may not realise her illness (if that’s what it is is) is as noticeable as it is to you she may feel she’s disguising it well, and it would be horrible to have that bit of confidence knocked

Definitely ask her how she is doing. I’m sure she will mention the stroke and then you can of course express sympathy etc, I think we avoid stuff like this too much !

Kittylester, I think she is being very brave and want to tell her that. Thank you everyone for the helpful
advice.

I agree with the suggestions to say 'Hello, how are you?'.

Your neighbour isnt hiding away as my son did. He felt really embarrassed to go out for a long time. He is fine going out now but still doesnt like talking about the event. Too many awful memories i suspect. He will happily talk about his disability but not how he got there.

I agree. A simple, hello how are you?
Oh dear Situpstraight. How unfortunate!

As others have advised, please don't avoid your neighbour, but do tread carefully. You can't always tell what the problem is from appearances. Your neighbour might have a condition such as Bell's Palsy.

You could just say "Hello, how are you?" ( a very normal greeting when bumping into someone) and let her tell you if she wants to.

Or make some remark about the weather, a very British conversational gambit.

As you only know her in passing I would say nothing other than, along the lines of, how are you doing in these strange times?

It's then up to her if she mentions her health.

I agree with Blossoming. If it were me I would be really glad if someone cared enough to ask about the problem rather than just passing the time of day.

During your quick chat just asked her how she is getting on and let her tell you about it.
Don’t do what I did, ask someone when he had a stroke as he hadn’t mentioned it to me, he said that he was going to the Drs in the morning as he wasn’t feeling too well but he hadn’t realised that he had had a stroke, oh! And thank you very much for nothing and mind my own business in future.

Oops, I don’t think he has ever forgiven me.

Having had a stroke at a relatively young age due to a brain injury, if it were me I would have appreciated you asking how I was getting along and just a little chat really. Feeling people were avoiding me was horrible.